Dr. Mariola Lidia Ficinski, MD

Dr Ficinski is an awesome doctor. She takes her time with you ; you NEVER feel like you are being rushed out the door, so she can get to her other patients. I get my blood drawn prior to seeing my primary doctor, and then I take my results when I see Dr Ficinski. She goes over all of my blood tests with me, explaining what the tests are for and where my results fall, as in low, high, and normal. She looks at the “entire picture” of what is going on with my health. I am grateful to have her as my endocrinologist.

I have late-stage hypothyroidism called Myxedema Coma, which is rare and manifests itself by adding five new symptoms to everything I knew was associated with my hypothyroidiam: 1) a physical transformation within hours where mucins, a fluid normally protecting the organs, flood the "third space" of skin making my face look drastically older and mentally compromised, my torso expanded as did my extremities with skin that's cold, doughy and hard, 2) my hair fell out like I was getting chemo, 3) respiratory distress followed by respiratory failure, 4) altered mental status followed by unresponsive status and then a frank coma and 5) major organ failure including my heart, liver and brain. Because it is rare most MDs have rarely heard of MC. It's usually diagnosed in the morgue. Grim. I know. Dr. Ficinski, however, is the bright side of this story. She immediately knew I had Myxedema Coma, and confirmed the non-functioning hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal, thyroid and gonatrophin-gondal… glands 2nd to TBI and Tau crossing the blood-brain barrier that I was being treated for prior to being rushed to UCLA (and Cedars the year before) in frank coma, not breathing and with heart and acute liver failure and my brain hypoxic. UCLA Hospital's Endocrinologists inexplicably stopped cold my lifetime full hormone replacement therapy. I was given only T4 IV without any T3. Thankfully I was transferred to Barlow Respiratory Hospital for one week where Dr. Ficinski was brought in as a consult. This dedicated physician not only recognized the Myxedema Coma how to treat severe hypothyroidism, but worked very hard to get me back on all of my hormone replacement therapies and reached out to my out-patient endocrinologist Dr. Friedman and pain-endocrinologist Dr. Tennant. She now sees me out-patient to follow-up on my endocrine health and I am so fortunate to have her as part of my medical team.

She is so knowledgable and patient. Can't recommend her highly enough.